Lithium perchlorate is the chemical
compound with the formula LiClO4. This white
crystalline salt is noteworthy for its high solubility in many
solvents. It exists both in anhydrous form and as a trihydrate.

Contents

Uses

Lithium perchlorate is used as a source of oxygen in some chemical oxygen generators.
It decomposes at about 400 °C, yielding lithium chloride and oxygen, the latter being over 60% of its mass.
It has both the highest oxygen to weight and oxygen to volume ratio
of all perchlorates,
excepting beryllium diperchlorate (which is expensive and highly
toxic), which makes it especially advantageous in aerospace applications.

LiClO4 is highly soluble in organic solvents, even
diethyl ether. Such solutions are employed in the Diels-Alder reactions, where it is proposed
that the Lewis acidic Li+ binds to
substituents on the diene, thereby accelerating the reaction.[1]